The Sinhala Sahithya Day is an occasion for writers, scholars and Buddhist monks to extol the beauty and grandeur of the Sinhala language.
However, we note a distressing drop in standards in Sinhala language usage. One TV channel, for example, uses “Singlish” in its news broadcasts. With an impish smile, the news reader will say, “Principal strike karala”, when he should be saying, in good Sinhala, “Viduhalpothi vada varijanayaka.” Instead of saying, “Kandy Road eke bus accident”, he should say, “Nuwara pare riya anthurak.”
I could go on and on with examples of the media’s embarrassing use of Singlish.
This trend should stop. The authorities – be they the Ministry of Cultural Affairs, the Sahithya Sangamayas, or the Buddhist monks – should come forward and check the deterioration of our language, before Singlish starts infecting our school-going children.
Sirima G.
Dewalamulla |
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